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procreo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word procreo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (pro-,creo)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin creo
French créer
Latin creatrix
Latin procreo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈproː.kre.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈprɔː.kre.o][1]

Forms

prōcreō (present infinitive prōcreāre, perfect active prōcreāvī, supine prōcreātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prō- + creō (“to create, beget”).[2][1][3] De Vaan traces creō to Proto-Italic *krē-jā- and refers it to the family of crēscō “to grow”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has a character say that begetting children is a pleasant task.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to bring into being by procreation, beget, engender; of a mother it is to bear, as Livy's matrons who protest at the terms on which they are to bear children.[2] Of plants it is to put forth, as Columella's vine that must not put forth useless shoots.[2] Transferred, it is to give rise to or produce: Cicero speaks of the place that begot a man as his fatherland, and of the god who created this unique world.[2] Church Latin glosses it to beget.[6] English procreate dates from the 1530s.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of begetting children.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the god who made the world.[2]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of bearing children.[2]
  • 1st century AD – Columella of vines putting forth shoots.[2][8]
  • 1530s – English procreate.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To beget, engender, procreate;[2][5][1][6] (of a mother) to bear.[2][5][1][6]
  2. (of plants) To put forth, produce.[2]
  3. To give rise to, generate, create.[2][1]

Word family

  • procreabilis
  • prōcreātiō
  • prōcreātor
  • prōcreātrix

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Procreo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/procreo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·